"Hyuga Naraku!" Danzo shouted, refusing to listen to what Naraku had to say—or perhaps, he didn't dare to.
"Are you sure you won't give up your Byakugan?"
"You don't need to say anything else," Naraku sneered. "You, Danzo, are not the Hokage. So stop talking—you sound like an idiot. And frankly, even if the Hokage himself ordered me, he wouldn't be qualified to make me turn away."
"I'm going to be Hokage!" Danzo roared, as if Naraku had struck a nerve. "Since you insist on resisting, don't regret it—this will be your grave!"
"On the contrary," Naraku activated his Byakugan, his tone turning cold. "Today, this place will be your grave."
Through the Byakugan's field of view, colorless and odorless gas could be seen spreading silently across the area.
The battle had already begun.
"There's no need to resort to poison," Naraku said calmly.
His tenketsu flared across his body, releasing a stream of chakra that surged out like a wave. A fierce gust of wind blew the spreading poison away.
Danzo frowned. This poison was unique to his Root organization. It could be absorbed not only through the lungs but also directly through the pores—causing paralysis.
He had taken the antidote beforehand, of course. That's why he stood there, unfazed, even as the gas expanded.
But that wasn't what he was counting on anyway.
Danzo waved his hand.
A dozen Root ninjas emerged from the surroundings.
Naraku watched through the Byakugan. He could see a few more ninjas hidden in the vicinity, but all combined, there weren't even twenty.
"That's it? Not even twenty Root operatives? Is that all that's left of your organization?"
Danzo's face turned grim.
Rage swelled inside him. How many Root operatives had he once commanded?
After failing to take Naraku down the first two times, his numbers had halved. And now, it was even worse.
Without another word, Danzo began weaving hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The Root shinobi followed his lead:
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bullets!"
The amplified flames surged forward, fanned by the wind, forming three blazing dragon heads that flew at Naraku with searing heat.
"They really think fire will work against me?" Naraku scoffed, forming his own seals.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique!"
His chakra erupted in a furious blaze. Three massive dragons of fire burst from his mouth.
BOOM!!
The flaming dragons collided mid-air in a roaring inferno.
Danzo squinted through the blinding flames—searching for Naraku.
"Hey, where are you looking?" Naraku's voice suddenly whispered from behind.
Danzo's chest exploded in pain.
Naraku's hand had pierced straight into his heart.
But—
Naraku's smile faded.
Danzo's body slowly began to fade into nothingness.
"Izanagi again?" Naraku muttered darkly. "Such an annoying jutsu... When did he even activate it?"
He bit back frustration. Fortunately, Danzo had only a few Sharingan left. The jutsu couldn't go on forever.
Suddenly, Danzo reappeared—using another Izanagi.
Unlike in the original timeline, he hadn't used the Sharingan to exterminate the Uchiha clan. He only had three, perhaps four eyes in total. Two were already gone.
Yet Danzo grinned.
Because his trap had already been triggered.
"Earth Release: Core Shift!"
The ground beneath Naraku began to rise, forming a dome around him. Only the patch of land under his feet remained unmoved, becoming a pit.
"Earth Release: Mud Trap!"
An illusory space formed above, aiming to seal him.
But—
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"
A massive, invisible force blew the mud wall away and shattered the illusion.
Naraku jumped from the hole effortlessly, as if taking a stroll.
"You knew you couldn't break through my defense, so you tried to bury me alive instead?" he mocked, striking a ninja dead with a single blow.
Danzo had already learned in the first ambush that Naraku's defense was extraordinary.
So the second time—when Shinnosuke led the assault—they had used over 100,000 explosive tags in a suicide attack.
And even that failed.
"So now you try the power of Earth itself?"
Naraku glanced at the remaining two ninjas.
Their expressions were cold, emotionless—like machines.
"Earth Release: Twin Crushing Pillars!"
Two massive earthen hemispheres raced toward Naraku, trying to crush him in between.
"Nice tactic... but pointless."
Naraku extended both arms—Chidori Sharp Spear in each hand.
Lightning pierced both boulders simultaneously, reducing them to rubble.
Amid the flying debris, Naraku stepped out wearing a faint blue aura—his chakra armor humming softly.
"It's still... useless."